The attachment of connectors to ribbon cable are well known and the applicants are familiar with the following:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) ______________________________________ 4,566,164 Brown et al 4,623,293 Brown et al 4,682,391 Hall, Jr. et al 4,839,962 Long, Jr. 4,870,752 Brown et al 4,903,403 Brown et al 5,074 038 Fath ______________________________________
In most of these devices, the connector comprises either a separate connector housing and a separate cover which are disposed on opposite surfaces of the ribbon cable or a preassembled connector housing and cover with an opening through which the ribbon cable is inserted. The connector having separate members produces problems of alignment and registry of the connector housing and cover. The preassembled connector is limited in that the ribbon cable must be fed through the connector requiring specialized equipment and limiting the assembly. One method of assembly is having a length of ribbon cable, initially attaching a connector at one end of the ribbon cable and subsequently feeding the connectors from the opposite end of the ribbon cable. Another method is to feed all of the connectors on a lower portion of the frame away from one another thereby separating the connector housing member of the connector from the cover member of the connector. The ribbon cable is received between the separated connector housing member and cover member. Means are provided for moving the upper portion and the lower portion of the frame toward one another to join the cover member and the connector housing member and to terminate the connector onto the ribbon cable.
A method of separating a preassembled connector and attaching the separated connector to a ribbon cable is also disclosed.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification, taken in conjunction with the enclosed drawings.